Great Plains Lookahead Digest
AP News Digest – Great Plains
To see stories that have already moved, please visit AP Newsroom. For text, photos, video, live and audio plans beyond the next 24 hours, please visit Coverage Plan.
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MINNESOTA – UPCOMING – SPORTS
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BKN–NBA PLAYOFF COVERAGE
DESCRIPTION: Coverage of the NBA conference finals
UPCOMING: By 05/22/2025 8:00 p.m. CDT, Text, Photo
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HKW–PWHL-FINALS
DESCRIPTION: OTTAWA — The defending Walter Cup champion Minnesota Frost play Game 2 of their best-of-five PWHL Finals series at the Ottawa Charge on Thursday night. 150 words, photos. Game starts at 7 p.m. EDT.
UPCOMING: By 05/22/2025 8:30 p.m. CDT, Text
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MINNESOTA – NEW AND DEVELOPING – NEWS
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US–JUSTICE DEPARTMENT-POLICE REFORM
Justice Department moves to cancel police reform settlements reached with Minneapolis and Louisville
SUMMARY: The Justice Department has moved to cancel settlements with Minneapolis and Louisville, Kentucky, that called for an overhaul of policing following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The department announced the steps Wednesday. Minneapolis in January approved a consent decree with the federal government in the final days of the Biden administration to overhaul its training and use-of-force policies under court supervision. The agreement required approval from a federal court. But the Trump administration told the court it doesn’t intend to proceed. The administration also announced it’s retracting the findings of Justice Department investigations into six other police departments that the Biden administration had accused of civil rights violations.
WORDS: 910 – MOVED: 05/21/2025 4:24 p.m. CDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:9d7cf00be8477e3dcb2fe1a658d73667&mediaType=text
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US–JUSTICE DEPARTMENT-POLICE REFORM-EXPLAINER
How federal consent decrees have been used in police reform across the US
SUMMARY: The Justice Department announced Wednesday it was canceling proposed consent decrees reached with Minneapolis and Louisville to implement policing reforms in the wake of high profile police killings. The department also announced it would retract findings in six other recent pattern or practice investigations at police departments around the country as part of move to phase out the use of the federal oversight mechanism on local police departments at President Donald Trump’s behest. Here’s more information on what consent decrees are and how they work.
WORDS: 941 – MOVED: 05/21/2025 3:45 p.m. CDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:03fc5ffd24495d8610228759bc6af31a&mediaType=text
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MISSOURI – NEW AND DEVELOPING – NEWS
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US–CHURCH FIRE-MISSOURI
A man who burned down a Missouri church has been sentenced to more than 9 years in prison
SUMMARY: A man who admitted in federal court to setting the fire that destroyed an eastern Missouri church has been sentenced to more than nine years in prison and ordered to pay the church nearly $7 million. The sentence for 49-year-old Christopher Scott Pritchard was imposed Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp over the April 2021 fire at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, about 115 miles southeast of St. Louis. Pritchard pleaded guilty in December to one felony count of arson and another felony count of arson to a building used in interstate commerce. The federal public defender representing Pritchard declined comment Wednesday.
WORDS: 207 – MOVED: 05/21/2025 4:32 p.m. CDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:e1497a1d34606623d8c1e73056fec1e2&mediaType=text
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NEBRASKA – UPCOMING – SPORTS
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SOF–NEBRASKA-BAHL
DESCRIPTION: LINCOLN, Neb. — Jordy Bahl has given the Nebraska softball team more than it could have hoped and, like she did during her two national championship seasons at Oklahoma, she’s taken her game to a higher level in the NCAA Tournament. Coming off a season-ending ACL tear in 2024, the national player of the year finalist is as dominant as ever in the circle and has been a revelation as one of the top power hitters in the game. By Eric Olson. 750 words, photos.
UPCOMING: By 05/22/2025 5:00 p.m. CDT, Text, Photo
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OKLAHOMA – UPCOMING – SPORTS
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SOF–NEBRASKA-BAHL
DESCRIPTION: LINCOLN, Neb. — Jordy Bahl has given the Nebraska softball team more than it could have hoped and, like she did during her two national championship seasons at Oklahoma, she’s taken her game to a higher level in the NCAA Tournament. Coming off a season-ending ACL tear in 2024, the national player of the year finalist is as dominant as ever in the circle and has been a revelation as one of the top power hitters in the game. By Eric Olson. 750 words, photos.
UPCOMING: By 05/22/2025 5:00 p.m. CDT, Text, Photo
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OKLAHOMA – NEW AND DEVELOPING – NEWS
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US–CONGRESS-TAX CUTS
After meeting at the White House Speaker Johnson vows to push ahead on Trump’s big bill
SUMMARY: Defying opposition from within his ranks, House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted late Wednesday that Republicans would march ahead on their multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package. Johnson appeared confident after a lengthy meeting at the White House with GOP holdouts. But next steps are highly uncertain. As evening hours set in, the upbeat tone stood at odds with the unwieldly scene at the Capitol. The Rules Committee has been grinding through a marathon session, passing its 18th hour. Another Republican, Rep. John Rose of Tennessee, announced his opposition. And Democrats, without the votes to stop Trump’s package, are using all available tools to press their opposition. The Congressional Budget Office says the tax provisions would add $3.8 trillion to federal deficits.
WORDS: 1142 – MOVED: 05/21/2025 5:39 p.m. CDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:2baff1acf9bdf6060fd584c93c97a88b&mediaType=text
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US–ABORTION EXCEPTIONS-TEXAS
A Texas bill to clarify exceptions to the state’s abortion ban clears a key hurdle after rocky path
SUMMARY: Texas lawmakers have advanced a bill to clarify medical exceptions under one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the U.S. The approval in the Texas House on Wednesday puts the GOP-backed proposal on the brink of reaching Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. The changes would not expand abortion access in Texas or include a list of specific medical exceptions under the state’s near-toal ban, which took effect in 2022. But the proposal is a signficant pivot for Texas Republicans, who for years have defended the ban as written in the face of the legal challenges and pleas from medical providers.
WORDS: 987 – MOVED: 05/21/2025 5:26 p.m. CDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:35e2dddb7bff3200b951cd3e7aa92f49&mediaType=text
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US–LA ZOO-LAST ELEPHANTS
Aging elephants moved from Los Angeles to Tulsa Zoo, but advocates say they should be at a sanctuary
SUMMARY: The last elephants at the Los Angeles Zoo have been quietly moved to a zoo in Oklahoma despite lawsuits seeking to have them transferred to a sanctuary where they could live out their days with more room to roam. The move early Tuesday angered advocates who argue that Billy and Tina would be subjected again to an enclosure that’s too small for aging elephants. The LA Zoo says the move was necessary because the Tulsa Zoo has other elephants who will provide important socialization. The Nonhuman Rights Project, which is suing the LA Zoo, plans to continue fighting for the elephants’ transfer to a sanctuary.
WORDS: 783 – MOVED: 05/21/2025 5:23 p.m. CDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:b86fa559493f66d5324c2991fa04cf21&mediaType=text
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SOUTH DAKOTA – NEW AND DEVELOPING – NEWS
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US–ABORTION EXCEPTIONS-TEXAS
A Texas bill to clarify exceptions to the state’s abortion ban clears a key hurdle after rocky path
SUMMARY: Texas lawmakers have advanced a bill to clarify medical exceptions under one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the U.S. The approval in the Texas House on Wednesday puts the GOP-backed proposal on the brink of reaching Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. The changes would not expand abortion access in Texas or include a list of specific medical exceptions under the state’s near-toal ban, which took effect in 2022. But the proposal is a signficant pivot for Texas Republicans, who for years have defended the ban as written in the face of the legal challenges and pleas from medical providers.
WORDS: 987 – MOVED: 05/21/2025 5:26 p.m. CDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:35e2dddb7bff3200b951cd3e7aa92f49&mediaType=text
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